"Forgotten" Diamonds in Limbo for 11 Years at Canadian Border Post
March 15, 20
(IDEX Online) - A diamond merchant has been locked in an 11-year battle to recover uncut gems seized at a Canadian border post, according to the daily National Post newspaper.
Tamba Thomas, from Australia, was found to have a plastic bag containing 28.13 carats of "forgotten" rough diamonds in his backpack as he crossed from the USA to Canada at Lacolle, Quebec, in November 2009.
He had Kimberley paperwork for other stones, but said those in his backpack were an oversight.
Mr Thomas was charged criminally with failing to report rough diamonds then valued at $19,800 and other importation violations.
He was eventually acquitted of all charges in 2016, and the judge ordered the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) to return his diamonds.
But they remain in limbo. The Kimberley office says if Mr Thomas takes the stones back to the USA, they'll be confiscated, because they left there without proper authority.
If he retrieves them from CBSA, he'd be required to take them out of the country immediately, but he'd be unable to do so because he has no certificates.
Mr Thomas argued in a federal court appeal that the CBSA must comply with the judge's original order and return the diamonds, but his case was dismissed.